People Magazine, September 6, 1982
HEADLINE: MIRAGE; Fleetwood Mac
BODY:
For a long time the intragroup romantic intrigues made this veteran ensemble rock's answer to The Young and the Restless. They have survived intact despite that notoriety and the ho-hum critical response to their obtuse Tusk album. The dozen richly textured cuts of this set are a reminder that these people can still make magic together in a studio. The material is all new and either written or co-written by band members Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie. Bassist John McVie and percussionist Mick Fleetwood craft expert rhythms to keep their partners' melodies afloat. Stevie's voice has lost some of its rasp since she solved her longtime problem of nodes on her vocal cords, but it hasn't lost its edge and can still bewitch, as it does in her tunes Gypsy and Straight Back. Lindsey's Oh Diane is a wonderful send-up of those dreamboat love songs Paul Anka and Fabian used to sing. Christine's songs, though, are the ones that show Fleetwood Mac at its best, with harmonies wafting in and out of focus like hallucinations in a desert.
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